OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
Note on Persons leaving the Indochinese Peninsula on small boats
26/5/;
이디:
1. During recent months, groups of Indochinese displaced persons having left their homes, set to sea on small boats. Many of them have been
rescued at sea by ships in the region. Often the persons thus rescued
have been given permission to disembark at the next port of call only
if assurances were given that resettlement opportunities would be
immediately available for them.
2. In other cases, small groups who have tried to reach a port in their
own boats have been obliged to remain aboard, even within sight of shore,
until a country has decided to admit them, either temporarily or for
permanent settlement. This has often involved severe hardship to those on
board who have been in dire need of assistance, particularly when children, old persons or pregnant women were involved.
3. The problems faced by these persons could be overcome by the combined
effort of traditional immigration countries and others capable of absorbing
them if sufficient places are made available for them to settle permanently.
Considerable efforts have already been made to find countries of durable
resettlement for such persons, and to facilitate their local integration
in countries of first asylum. However further efforts are needed.
The High Commissioner brought this problem to the attention of
Permanent Representatives in Geneva of States members of the Executive
Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme at a meeting on
4.
25 June 1976, when he suggested that some countries might consider the possibility of granting small quotas for such special cases. The High
Commissioner referred to the possibility of a scheme along the lines of
the "Ten or more Plan" in which many countries presently participate to
facilitate the resettlement of handicapped refugees. Such a scheme is planned for a period of, say, one year.
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LA